The Stupor of Love
by Kuro Neko Utsukushi
Summary: Lucy is destroying herself, as her best friend watches. Can anything save her from this spiral or will she end up gone. What will come of the new Gang leader of Fairy hills, will he ensue a reign of terror or will he prove them all wrong. This will be uploaded as I finish each Chapter This is an A.U. Romance following Nalu constructive critique welcome.
1. prologue

Prologue.

Lucy slowly sat up and turned to look at the clock by her bed. She groaned as she saw the time was only three A.M. She got out of bed as the voices in her head grew even louder. She'd been hearing them for years, ever since her mother's death. They said terrible things to her, told her to hurt, or that she didn't matter. She stood rubbing her bare skin and the taut muscles beneath. She walked from her bed to her bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. She stared at the girl in the mirror, her blonde hair framing her face and falling over her breasts, her eyes beautiful yet tired. She sighed rubbing the dark rings under her eyes and opened the medicine cabinet. She took out the sleeping pills she'd been taking, though they never lasted long enough, the voices always got louder no matter how many she took. She replaced the pills and took out some stronger painkillers, of which she took three. After a few moments she stumbled back to her bed and passed out on top of it.

Natsu woke in the night with a feeling of dread. He'd just arrived the day prior and would be starting classes at his new school that morning. He rolled out of bed and looked at his dorm. It was comfortable enough but he felt strange, he'd never been to a boarding school before, and he hadn't exactly left his old school on good terms. Natsu had always feared people and because of it tended to avoid contact and talked little. He had been feared in turn by the whole school who thought he was a delinquent thug. It didn't help that he was the strongest person there and that he'd won his fair share of fights, leaving his opponents broken and bloodied. He never meant to fight, he was just trying to stick up for kids who were being harassed. But the latest incident had been the worst. He'd caught a teacher assaulting a female student. He nearly killed the man and terrified the girl so much she ran half nude from the scene. He'd been let off after the teacher confessed but had still been expelled. His older brother had sent him here to Fairy Hills boarding school. He rose from his bed poured a cup of milk, and sat at his desk. As he drank he traced the tattoos along his chest and arms. After he finished his drink he went back to sleep until the sun had risen.

 **-% &#$%#^-**

Looking through the files he sighed, there were six students he could relate to violent crimes, and approximately twenty with drug ties. He'd been running this school for years and this was the second highest these counts had been. Since a certain freshman class started attending two years ago the count had fallen drastically. The druggies all graduated and the violent crimes were monopolized by the six students currently in attendance. He knew more than he let on to these students. He sighed again and shredded the documents. He knew he was lucky to have that gang patrolling, but he wished those kids didn't have to do things like that.

" _Luckily the police force had managed to eliminate most drug dealers in the area, which meant that would be one less problem"_ , He thought. And he was right. the drug problem in the school would be dealt with shortly, as the police force had a list of buyers from one of the dealers and were going to take them in.


	2. Chapter 1

**-Natsu-**

Ninety minutes before first period an alarm sounded through the whole school to awaken the students. Natsu rolled out of bed and rubbed his eyes then set about preparing breakfast. He ate toast as he lacked the necessary ingredients for anything else and then dressed quickly, heading to the gym to get a workout in before classes started.

He arrived at the gym and found a group of students already there. On the bench closest to him was a well muscled dark haired guy who wasn't wearing a shirt. Standing over him was a blue haired girl whose gaze seemed fixed on the muscles in his chest as they bulged and flexed. Beside them on the other bench was a tall guy covered in piercings with a wild mane of hair. In the far corner a small girl was having an even match with the punching bag. As Natsu enters the two men look at him. The larger of the two sets his bar and sits up to face him.

"Well if it isn't that new fellow", he said haughtily." Hear you were pretty tough, let's say we don't believe that. Whatcha gonna do?" he pauses looking pointedly at Natsu.

Natsu shakes his head and says," believe what you want", he walks to the farthest bench and starts stacking plates on the bar.

As Natsu starts to pump, the bare chested boy walks over the blue haired chick on his arm. " most people don't blow us off",He says.

"My apologies", Natsu retorts. " could you please take your girl and go somewhere else".

The boy looks down at Natsu and sneers. He shrugs off the girl and sets his hands on Natsu's bar pressing down. Natsu stops, looks at the him and throws the bar up into his nose. He hollers as blood flows from his now broken nose. Before Natsu can sit up however the girl has a knife to his neck.

"You hurt Gray-sama, Juvia will kill you for that", She wails as she pushes the knife closer.

Natsu grabs her wrist and twists the knife away. She yelps and turns away. The small girl from the corner rushes over and takes out a metal rod swinging it at Natsu. He manages to dodge but is left off balance. She prepares to strike again when the guy with all the piercings snaps.

"Cut it out kid, he'll brain you too". He turns to Natsu and holds out a hand." Names Gajeel, how'd you like to join my gang"?

Natsu looks at him. _Does he want to be my friend,_ he thinks. _But aren't gangs full of delinquents, but everyone probably assumes I'm one already._ He throws back his shoulders and speaks, " How'd you like to join mine"? _Did I just say that, what am I doing I'm gonna be thought of as the worst kid here._

Gajeel looks down and nods, "sure thing, if I can bring my crew." he gestures to the rest of the group. " what's our"?

Natsu looks around and steels his gaze. "Etherious". He thinks if he's gonna do this he better do it all the way.

-Levi-

Levi stands just outside the door to Lucy's dorm. She takes a deep breath and opens the door. She quickly spots Lucy sprawled nude over her bed. She walks to the bathroom and finds the open bottle of painkillers. Her breath catches and she drops the breakfast sandwich she'd been holding. She rushes to Lucy's side and checks her pulse. For a second she's terrified until she feels a slow steady beat. She sighs and shakes Lucy to wake her.

Lucy rouses and looks up into Levy's relieved face." ellow Leby", she slurs," What tim es eet?"

Levy smiles and speaks softly," seven, we need to get you ready for class".

Lucy gets shakily to her feet and sets about dressing herself as Levy reclaims the dropped sandwich and pops it in the microwave. Levy has known about Lucy's issues for years. But until recently they seemed minor. Until last summer when Lucy had nearly killed herself trying to shut up the voices in her head. After that Levy had dedicated herself to helping Lucy, to keeping her grounded. But Lucy had just kept getting more depressed and desperate. Though she seemed fine most of the time if a bit ditsy and klutzy she was actually always on drugs. She couldn't stop, once Levy had taken her pills and she'd woken up to Lucy's agonized screams. She'd rushed to help and found her crying in a corner muttering and wailing at nothing and nobody. Levy couldn't even get her to take her pills. Lucy thrashed around for hours while Levy looked on horrified. Eventually Levy called her boyfriend and told him Lucy was having a panic attack. He'd arrived with a syringe and a bottle of morphine. He'd held Lucy down for Levy to inject her. Lucy quieted down and fell asleep in Levy's arms. Levy never asked how he'd gotten the drug, she knew she wouldn't like the answer.

After they ate Levy did Lucy's hair and walked her to class. Lucy was unsteady on her feet and had to lean on Levy a significant amount. Levy didn't mind, she was perfectly willing to help. As they walked the halls they passed few people, most everyone being in class by then. The few people they did see were either higher than Lucy or too deep within each other to notice Lucy's inebriation. They arrive at the doors to their classroom, where a small group of people are gathered. Levy perks up as she recognizes her boyfriend among them.

She begins to wave and calls out,"Gajeel, good morning, how are you doing". She is very glad to see him here, he rarely attends classes and she could use his company.

"I'm fine shrimp, but I got some news that may surprise you". He smirks and reaches behind him.

He pulls a boy forward and speaks, "this here is the new head honcho, and we're now part of the Etherious gang."

Levy stops and studies the boy. He's not particularly tall and his hair is a pink mess but he looks well muscled. Suddenly she recognizes him from some files she'd read in the teachers office. She stumbles back a pace stuttering

" y-y-y-y-y-y-y-you're Natsu D-D-Dragneel, you were kicked out of your last school for murdering a teacher, but that was only he last straw. In a string of violent incidents including one involving several female classmates". She subconsciously positions herself in front of lucy.

Natsu glowers down at Levy with pure rage, " I never killed him, but he deserved to die for his actions". The words drip like venom from is lips as he looks down to the floor. His voice softens momentarily, "And I'd never hurt a girl, in any way". He looks Levy in the eye and speaks one more time before turning away," I have honor".

Levy stands there for a moment before turning to Lucy again. She gasps as she sees Lucy has started to tear up and looks fully aware for the first time in years. She speaks slowly and quietly. "The voices...".

Levy paled as she heard Lucy's words. Spoken so clearly, yet so quietly. She grabbed Lucy's hand and rummaged in her bag. She couldn't find the pills. Had she left them in the room? What was she going to do? She began to panic, if Lucy had an attack now- no she had to concentrate. Then Gajeel was there he grabbed her wrist and put something in her hand. He nodded and walked off toward his class. Levy looked down to find 2 pills in her hand. She wasted no time and gave them to Lucy, who took them and crushed them with her teeth before swallowing them. After a minute her Eyes glazed back over and she swayed slightly. She looked over to Levy and whispered,"Thank you". Levy held back tears at what her friend had become, and led her into class.

 **-Natsu-**

 ***after the scuffle***

Natsu stands silently as Gajeel introduces everyone in the group. "This is Wendy..." he says gesturing to the small girl." you already know Gray and Juvia", Gray sneers, his nose has stopped bleeding and turns out wasn't quite broken. Juvia hangs from him like a cloth.

Gajeel continues," You see we were the head honchos at this school. We mostly just beat down people who get too full of themselves and keep undesirables in there place. We can get whatever someone desires, for a price. We have people all over, even in the upper levels of the faculty and the " _upstanding"_ student body. For example my girl's an honor student." he stops and turns to Natsu pointedly." She's got a friend, real good status, make a great ornament for your rise to power."

Natsu shakes his head," I have no use for a decoration. And I'm not sure that's really what you're suggesting". Gajeel shrugs and puts his hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"We'll walk you to your class. It's important everyone sees you ahead of us, it'll make em wary of you."

Natsu sighs as his new thugs lead him off toward the classroom. They get there barely before classes and Gajeel seems slightly surprised at the room number.

"This is my girl's class, her friends too", he says in an aside to Natsu." you're gonna have to look the part of badass gangster boss. I know that's not the real you I met at that fight but around the normies that is you, the gang can know when you're… comfortable".

Natsu was stunned, no one had ever seen through his shell before, not that he ever tried to show them. _This Gajeel was someone to watch_ , he thought.

Suddenly a voice came from down the hall, he looked and saw a girl barely taller than Wendy smiling and waving at Gajeel. Behind her stands an attractive blonde. As Natsu watches she stumbles a little and shakes her head. Natsu raises an eyebrow and looks closer. Her gait was slightly unsteady her face slightly slack and her eyes completely unfocused. Natsu knew exactly what was up he'd seen that face many times at his old school, though she did a pretty good job hiding it. The girl was completely stoned.

Juvia and Gray slink off somewhere while Gajeel greets the girl. Natsu isn'tt really paying attention to the conversation and is completely caught off guard when Gajeel grabs his arm and drags him forward. The girl looks at him for a second before her eyes go wide. He knows exactly where this was going, it had happened many times before.

 **-Lucy-**

 ***In the hall before class***

Lucy dreamed of grey foggy nothing. She only heard faint garbled whispers, and felt only the soft all encompassing embrace of stupor. She always felt either like this, watching as her intoxicated self stumbled through life. Or she was there hearing screams of pain and hatred, feeling nothing but rage for those around her, and fearing the thoughts that wriggled their way through that smaug to whisper into her ear. Telling her to inflict the pain she heard.

Lucy was aware of a slight movement of her physical self. The other happy Lucy opened her eyes and slurred out a greeting to a face, this Lucy couldn't quite remember. She was aware of Happy Lucy getting dressed, eating of sitting while that face did her hair. Lucy felt no sadness to be missing the life of her other self, the little clouded window was enough. Lucy watched herself walk leaning slightly on that strange face. They stopped and the face rushed forward leaving her to stand unsteadily.

Lucy felt something new then, a warmth. She peered through her window at the crowd of faces. As she watched the picture became clear and she felt Happy Lucy sink beneath her. She stared at the world around her, she was there and real. Her body her own, she felt that same warmth and looked toward it. She gasped silently as she saw the boy with pink hair. He looked mad but to Lucy he was glowing like the sun. She remembered a day long ago, in the gardens of her home sitting on the cool grass with her mother, the sun falling gently against her skin.

Lucy stood silently as the boy turned and left. Slowly the light faded and she became aware of something. Voices creeping in around her, she began to cry as she realized they'd been gone for that brief moment, and they were coming back. The face from earlier turned toward her, and she saw Levy, her friend, how had she forgotten. Levy came towards her and the voices grew louder. She spoke quietly to Levy," The Voices…". She couldn't keep going she hoped Levy could help. She tried to sink back into her fog, but it was gone.

 **-Natsu-**

 ***First class***

Natsu sat in the back off the class and tried not to notice the fact that every eye in the classroom was on him, as the teacher spoke. Natsu leaned back in the chair, crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the teacher, trying to pay attention to the lesson. The teacher in turn paled slightly as it appeared Natsu was glaring death upon him. Natsu tightened his jaw unconsciously, he didn't know he looked intimidating and was tired of people misjudging him for incorrectly portrayed scenarios from his past. The whole glas flinched back and turned away. He sighed inwardly and tried to relax.

After class Natsu got up and noticed that the whole class was using the far door leaving the one nearest him open. He walked from the room and tried not to look frightening. But no matter what people would go around him, one guy even put himself between him and some girls. Natsu sneered at him and stamped his foot the guy faltered slightly but held his ground. Natsu shook his head and walked away. He passed many kids who all seemed afraid, he heard rumors of his violent past. Those distorted versions of the truth made him out to be a violent monster, a criminal. He passed a closed classroom and stopped turning to look inside.

He could hear nothing from within but what he saw chilled him. There were a bunch of seniors all sat around a couple desks, standing over them were three burly police officers. They were waving small bags and seemed to be talking animatedly. Natsu knew instantly this was a drug bust. He turned away and smiled to himself. " _Serves em right",_ he thought, " _filthy habit it is"._

Natsu made it through all his classes well enough and broke up a fight at lunch. He'd walked into the ring of cheering spectators and they'd gone dead silent. He wrenched the top boy off the one on the ground and tossed him one armed into the ring. He turned in a circle and said, " Eat", rather forcefully. He'd never seen so much food eaten so quickly. He now sat on his bed, his shirt discarded. He traced his tattoos again, the action always seemed to calm him. His tattoos were of black thorny vines spreading from his chest and running onto his biceps. He moved his fingers over the taught flesh over his solid chest, and sighed. He got up from his bed and paced the floor.

At about 9:00 he started hearing soft moans, the creak of a bed spring, and a dull thumping as the bed -post hit the wall from the room next door. He scowled, he did not enjoy being keenly aware of others activities. He took out his phone and tried to call Gajeel to see if he could hang out there until the couple was finished, no answer. He growled and dialed Gray's number, while he was not exactly fond of him he was the only other dude he knew at the school. The phone began ringing and Natsu heard muffled cursing from the other room along with a faint ring. Natsu blanched as he processed this new information.

"Who the hell is this?" comes Gray's voice from both his phone and the wall.

Natsu clears his throat before growling out, "Keep it down". He hangs up abruptly, and sits heavily breathing hard. " _That was terrifying."_ he thinks. It would take a long time for him to get used to this. He looked up at the ceiling and sighs, he never had enjoyed people.

Natsu woke the next morning feeling drained from the previous day. He rolls out of bed and heads to the kitchenette. There he sets about preparing breakfast, it's nothing fancy as he still hadn't collected more ingredients. He dialed up Gajeel and the phone began ringing.

After about three rings Gajeel answered." Yeah, what's up boss", he says almost mechanically. And in the distance just barely audible there's another feminine voice too quiet to understand.

Natsu sighs inwardly, of course all " _his"_ thugs spent the night with their girls. He clears his throat and speaks in what he hopes is a commanding gangsterish voice, " bring the gang over to my place for a quick meeting, invite your girl too I want more information.

"Roger that boss", Gajeel replies, prompting another internal sigh from Natsu.

" Don't call me boss", he says tiredly.

"If you insist. You'll need a street name anyway." Gajeels says before abruptly hanging up. Leaving Natsu wandering what that meant.

Within the hour everyone was gathered outside Natsu's door. Gajeel knocked, feigning a practiced deliberate pattern. Natsu opens the door and his eyes immediately fall on the blonde resting against Levy. He sneers slightly, causing Levy to clutch the girls hand. He turns and waves them in over his shoulder. They follow and are utterly shocked by the sight before them.


	3. Chapter 2

When the group entered Natsu's dorm. They each had different expectations when they entered; Levy expected it to be messy and to possibly have a multitude of weapons and other devices. Juvia expected something like Gray's room, which is to say a bit of a mess and full of equipment. Gajeel expected it to look like a dorm that'd only been lived in a day and a half. Gray expected a bunch of magazines, and some beat up training dummies. Wendy expected to be frightened in some way. And Lucy was completely stoned.

What none of them expected was a neat orderly room and the smell of fresh baked cookies. Natsu is standing by the sofa placing a tray on the coffee table. He looks up and frowns.

"What's with those funny looks", he grumbles, flushing slightly. " I didn't have much in the way of ingredients so they're peanut butter, do you guys not like peanut butter?"

Gajeel is the first to recover, he walks forward puts his hand on Natsu's shoulder and laughs heartily. He looks pointedly at Natsu before turning back to the rest of the group. Saying, " This guy, what a riot amiright?" he turns back to the cookies and laughs more, " You can cook, never would have guessed. Maybe you could teach Levy a thing or two, for all her brains her cooking could kill a buffalo." he continued to laugh as Levy bristles and beats weakly on his massive chest.

Natsu laughs softly at the sight. He catches his breath as he looks up and notices the blonde staring at him purposefully. He could have sworn she was high as hell when she'd walked in, what had happened. He sat on the couch and gestured around him. The others all found seats. He clapped once and said, " Let the first meeting of Etherious and Co ,commence.

He had Levy and Gajeel brief him on the happenings around the school. They told him about the troublemakers to keep his eye on, they told him about the staff, and about the disciplinary committee. They told him about the recent drug raid and how that completely eliminated all drug traffic within the school. He looked at the blonde as they said this last part and was surprised to see her squirming embarrassedly. Levy saw this and decided to change the subject.

" Mr. Dragneel, What about the rumors regarding your disciplinary record. Are any of those stories true?", she'd deliberately chosen this topic, she knew tough guys loved to brag, and she figured he was no different.

Natsu sighs, and looks down. " to a degree most of them are at least half right", he says softly. He looks up at Levy, and she is surprised to see no pride in his eyes, only sadness. Natsu continues, " Most recently there's the case with my old teacher. The popular story is I was caught with a whore and attacked him when he tried to stop us from doing it at school, the official story is that I viciously beat a teacher I caught with my girl." He pauses, and looks at Levy dead in the eyes. " the true story is that that teacher had called her in to retrieve some papers. I saw her go in and heard a crash, I ran in there and saw him pinning her to a table. She was fighting but she couldn't do anything to him. He'd ripped her shirt open, and had her bra and skirt mostly off. I charged him and sent him into the wall. The next thing I remember a paramedic was shaking me slightly, I was kneeling over the teacher, in a pool of his blood. I'm pretty sure he lived though." Silence was all that greeted this news. He went on to correct there views on every single one of the stories they'd heard.

Levy takes a deep shuddering breath and raises her head to look at Natsu. "Why tell us all this?", She asks.

Natsu looks at her and breathes a long slow breath. " Because I need you all to trust me, and I'm tired of being treated like a monster."

 **-Lucy-**

Lucy floats in her own oblivion once more. She can see Happy Lucy as she talks with that one face she can never remember. The face leads Happy Lucy along somewhere. They arrive at more facs, more shapes without definition. Lucy feels nothing for a time she can't specify, time was one of the first things she lost track of. All the faces turn the same direction and a brief feeling of warmth radiates past her cocoon before receding. She reaches for it but it slips past her. The face is leading her again, and she becomes aware of a scent. It lifts her from the nothingness, as if it were an angel pulling her from Hell.

Lucy blinks and looks around as she becomes lucid once more. The scent returns and she looks down to see a tray of cookies. The smell of them reminds her of a time long past. She feels happy, and sad all at once. Her mother used to make peanut butter cookies, she'd loved them. She reaches out to grab one and locks eyes with the same boy from, how long ago was that? She couldn't tell. He looked sad and scared, but he also seemed so very warm. Then a question came to mind;" _why's it so quiet"?_

-Levy-

Levy didn't know what to think. On one hand Natsu claimed all the stories were false. But on the other if he was lying, he could prove to be even more dangerous. But his face looked sincere, and no one could have faked that pain, could they? Levy was still thinking when she feels Lucy shift beside her.

Levy looks over to see Lucy leaning down to pick up a cookie. Levy blinks trying to process this. No one had touched the cookies yet, and Levy was quite honestly wary of them. Lucy had no reason to grab a cookie except at her own volition, which Levy had long thought her void of. But as her friends grabs a cookie and looks up Levy sees her face, and her eyes widen slightly. The movements are purposeful and clear, the eyes locked into focus a slight smile touching the corners of her mouth. Levy almost cries out and gabs Lucy as she sees her friend sober and calm. But she follows her friends gaze and finds it locked onto Natsu's visage.

Levy forces herself to relax in an effort to not give away Lucy's normal nature. She grabs Natsu attention by speaking, " So do you have a plan for this school… sir"? She speaks the last word with heat, trying to goad him.

Natsu looks up at her and shrugs. " Not really… miss". He says the last word with heavy sarcasm. He then stands and heads for the door. He looks over his shoulder and says, " it's nearly time for class.

Levy sits for a second stunned. The others start to get up to, Gray and Juvia disentangle themselves and make to get up. Levy turns to where Lucy was sitting only to find her gone. She whips her head around searching and spots her walking out the door after Natsu. Levy blanches and rushes to the door, she didn't even want to think what Natsu might do. She still didn't trust him no matter what he said.

-Lucy-

Lucy didn't know why she was following the boy, she just felt drawn to him. She followed behind him as he passed through the door, she watched the muscles in his shoulders move under his shirt. She steps into the hall behind him and walks with him. He turns to look at her and rolls his eyes.

"What are you looking for?", he grumbles down at her.

"Did you make those cookies"? She asks with a slight tilt of her head. "They were quite good."

He stops and cocks and eyebrow at her. He seems to study her inside and out before speaking. "Thanks, it's no big deal".

Lucy shakes her head and looks up at him. " It's plenty big a deal if you ask me." she pauses as if unsure. She breathes deeply before continuing, " My mother used to make cookies like that."

Lucy looks down tears rimming her eyes. She looks up again and asks, " What's your name anyway. I'm Lucy."

He looks down tenderly for a moment before pulling her in close. He wraps his strong arms around her and she melts into his comforting embrace. " It's Natsu", he says softly.

He holds her for a few seconds before pulling away his hands still on her shoulders. She's looking down tears still on her cheeks. He lifts her head and whispers, " Don't cry, it's all gonna be fine".

Lucy looks into his eyes and sees only a tender caring gaze. She basks in the light she feels from him, letting it lift her from herself. Suddenly she's ripped from her trance by A loud voice.

"Lucy!", Calls a loud and familiar voice. Lucy looks the way they came and sees Levy searching frantically for her. She backs up from Natsu and he nods before walking away.

Levy rushes over to Lucy and grabs her hands. "Are you alright, what happened, Why did you leave?", Levy's voiced is laced with fear. Lucy starts to answer but suddenly her voice won't work. She feels cold and whispers start to appear at the edges of her mind. She blinks rapidly and motions to Levy.

Levy looks confused for a moment before realizing Lucy's drugs must have worn off. She fishes in her purse and hands lucy a couple pills. Lucy swallows them eagerly and soon her eyes once again glaze over. Levy sighs and leads Lucy to the classroom.

-Natsu-

Natsu couldn't stop thinking about that morning. It was obvious Levy didn't trust him farther than she could throw him. Although what he was really thinking about was the blonde. He'd thought her just some drugged up bimbo that hung around Levy. But she seemed fine when they were talking, and so very sad. He'd reacted on instinct, to comfort her. He'd always had a protective drive but this felt slightly off. He couldn't quite place why. He decided to forget about it for now and focus on studying.

He looked up to the front of the class and found the seats directly around hm void and the teacher behind his desk. Natsu blinked confused for a second before realizing he'd been scowling again. He adjusted his features and gestured for the teacher to do his job. The teacher stood slowly and shakily made his way through his lesson.

After his first class went so terrible he decided to make sure the second on went perfect. He pumped his fist as he walked into the classroom causes several kids to duck for cover. He held up his hands and made his way to his seat. The teacher walked in and Natsu realized it was a different one from the day before. He sighed with relief, if this teacher somehow didn't know him this class was gonna be alot easier.

He was wrong of course the teacher had nearly fainted when he saw Natsu's name on the roll call. This had been the first of many mishaps during that class. Natsu had nearly dropped a vial and trying to catch it sent it flying into the blackboard. The vial smashed and the liquid inside sizzled on the board. He went to apologize but the teacher wouldn't give him a chance with all his pleading. He'd also set of a chemical reaction that filled the whole room with thick bluish smoke. He was not happy going into the cafeteria for lunch.

" _At ,east there's no line"_. He thought as all the kids in line dispersed as he entered, except one. Natsu cocks an eyebrow at the girl who still stands in front of the desserts apparently enraptured in choosing a cake.

Natsu shrugs and grabs a tray ladling food in as he goes. He gets to the girl and waits a second before speaking. " lot of good choices"? He says shyly. The girl turns to him a gleam in her eyes.

"Quite a few, can't quite decide whether or not to get strawberry custard or strawberry tart." she responds casually.

Natsu blinks twice before speaking, "Maybe try the… custard?" he says unsure.

She regards him for a second then nods, "I think I will." she says adding some to her plate. She then walks off without a word.

Natsu shrugs and leaves without bothering with a desert. " _What a strange girl",_ he thinks, " _it was nice that she wasn't scared though"._

As Natsu walks Gajeel materializes from the crowd. Natsu doesn't quite know how he blends in with that hair. But says nothing on the subject.

Gajeel leans in close whispering, " That was erza scarlet, you did well getting on her good side. She may be more feared than you, but people don't want to make her feel bad by acting scared cause before we came around she was also the only thing keeping this place civil. She's also really nice most of the time."

Natsu swallows and looks the way the girl had gone, she'd seemed nice hadn't she? Natsu had no clue what to think anymore. This school was a strange place for sure.

Natsu's third and fourth classes go by just as smoothly as the first two. Natsu walks defeatedly to his room and drops off his bag. He then heads out to the supermarket down the street to get some good food. He stops for a second thinking. He nods and decides to also get a lunch box. He passes a few thugs on the street but no one tries to stop him.

He gets to the store and walks inside. The fluorescent lighting hurts his eyes as he makes his way through the aisles. He gets essentials like potatoes, flour, sugar, eggs, chocolate, half the rack of spices, buns, and ground beef. He picks up some fresh produce and case of soda as well. He checks out and walks back to his dorm. When he arrives he once again hears creaking and moaning from Grays room. He sighs and puts the food away.

Natsu lay back on his bed trying to figure out how he'd gone so far in two days. He sighed and sat up. He walks to the bathroom to take a shower. He stepped into the shower and let the hot water wipe away the stress from the day. Natsu revelled in the heat for awhile before getting out of the shower drying off and heading back to his room.

-Erza-

*post cafeteria*

Erza walked away from the cafeteria eating her custard and thinking. " _That boy was familiar, and it was odd how everyone suddenly left when he entered. I should keep tabs on him"._ She turns and walks to the other end of the the school.

She arrives at a room with no number and knocks three times. The door opens revealing a very short elderly man. Erza walks in and sits in front of the desk. The man sits behind it and looks at her expectantly.

" Headmaster Makarov, I need to know about a student, a boy with pink hair", she says crisply. The old man nods and pushes a large heavy file towards her. Her eyebrows raise as he does. THe headmaster has files on every student, the fact that he had this one ready and that it was so thick didn't bode well for the situation.

" Erza, child. Don't read this if you're not prepared for it". He pauses before continuing. " your file has nothing on this."

Erza pauses her hand hovering over the document. She scrunches her eyebrows and places her hand on the document. She sighs and pushing it back to him. " Never mind", she says before getting up and leaving.

The old man sighs and puts the file on to stack of six. He turns from the desk and looks out a window. " Lord help these children", he says softly.

 **% &#&$*^**

 **Makarov**


	4. Chapter 3

Natsu sits alone on the school roof. it's late and he stares at the sky thinking of all he'd been through recently. It'd been two weeks since he'd arrived. In that time he'd become a gang leader and solidified his station as the worst person in the school. He now had a nickname he was supposed to use on the street. Apparently the whole gang had one. Juvia was Rain Woman, Gray was Ice King, Wendy was Little Dragon, Gajeel was Iron Dragon, and he was now Salamander. He sighs and peers over the edge of the roof. " _What am I doing"_ , he thinks. He stands and walks from the edge. He returns to his room and lays on his bed. He thinks momentarily of a thought he'd had many times in the last two weeks. " _Why me, what did I do to cause this?_ " he sinks into a shallow restless sleep.

-Lucy-

Lucy sits huddled in the corner trying not to hear the voices in her head. She tried to call for Levy but couldn't reach her voice. She rocked back and forth clutching at her ears trying in vain to stop the torrent of madness. She managed to stand her mind crying out for blood as she wailed silently for quiet. She stumbled to the bathroom and ripped open the cupboard. She dug through the bottles and tubes within but her hands never found the pills she needed. She collapsed to the floor and retreated within herself as the voices continued their onslaught.

" _YOU ARE NOTHING",_ the voice of her father. " _YOU'RE ONLY A BURDEN",_ Levy's voice. Her father once more screams at her, " _YOU USELESS WASTE OF AIR, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ANYONE?"_ She falls under the words, tears flow from her eyes, and she begins to beat at her head. Finally one quiet voice speaks through the onslaught, the voice of her mother. " _come with me Lucy, come with me"._ She stood and walked from the room and as made her way to roof in a daze. In her mind she followed her mother through the garden on the way to somewhere better.

Lucy was dimly aware of her motion as she floated within her mind. Some one else was driving, but not Happy Lucy. Lucy didn't know where she was going she only knew that the voices were following her and that this was the only way to escape them. She didn't remember what time it was. She only felt the temperature drop and then she was falling.

-Natsu-

Natsu woke with a start, he didn't know what had woken him but he felt scared. He looked around the room and saw that his scarf was missing. He cursed himself for leaving it on the roof and rose to get it.

As he reached the stairs he became aware of a light rhythmic slap, like bare feet on stone. He hurried up the stairs and turned the corner to see the door swinging closed. He ran to the door and shoved it open. He saw a girl, barely dressed and walking straight for the edge. He called out and ran forward. She turned just as she reached the edge and he knew who it was.

She fell backward over the edge and he leapt forward. He reached the edge as she started to fall from sight he reached down to grab her, but missed. He rolled over the ledge and grabbed again.

-Lucy-

Lucy became aware as the sky spun over her, she reeled over backward and saw the ground far below. She began to scream but her voice was cut off as she jerked to a halt her legs fling past her as her tank top bit into her armpit. She clutched her arms to her chest to keep from slipping through and free falling. She heard and loud growl above her and looked up.

Above her muscles bulging as he held her by the back of the shirt in one had and the lip of the roof with the other. His teeth clenched and his eyes set determinedly was Natsu. She began to cry as he held her. His eyes brightened with a fire she'd never seen in anyone before. The veins on his arms popped out as she began to rise.

He flung her over the ledge with a roar. She rolled on the shale . scraping her shoulders and knees. She crawls back to the edge as Natsu pulls himself up over the lip. He gets up on his knees and looks in her direction. She freezes as blood trickles from his nose. He glares down at her. She falls back onto her heels as he stares. She suddenly becomes aware of her less than adequate state of dress, especially her now completely destroyed top. She looks back at him but instead of his eyes being locked on her body they bore into her eyes. He raises a hand and she winces. But a blow never lands instead he's pulling her forward into him.

"Why would you…?" he chokes past tears as he clutches her." What did you have to gain from ending it all?"

She says nothing. She simply wraps her arms around him and sobs into his chest. She cries from fear, pain, sadness. She eventually quiets and as the adrenaline fades she shivers from the cold, and feels blood dripping from all her small cuts and scrapes. Natsu pulls away for a second.

A moment later he returns and wraps something around her. He puts an arm under her legs and lifts her into his arms. She clutches at his shirt as he carries her inside. They descend the stairs and walk along an empty hall. She doesn't know where he's taking her, and she doesn't care.

She wakes not realizing she'd fallen asleep as he sets her down on a sofa and walks to turn on the light. He walks into the bathroom and comes out with a first aid kit. He silently cleans and disinfects all the little scrapes and nicks from the roof. He pauses and looks seemingly for the first time at her ruined shirt.

" Do you mind raising your arm?" he says color flushing his cheeks. "I mean so I can see where the shirt was." he stammers and lowers his eyes.

Lucy nods and raises her arm enough for him to inspect the friction burns underneath. Once he finishes he walks over to his dresser and takes out a shirt. He hands it to her and turns to the kitchenette. She puts the shirt on and removes the scraps that used to be a tank top from underneath. Natsu returns and ands her a tin. Opening it she reveals the cookies he'd made, she didn't even know how long ago.

Natsu clears his throat and looks her in the eye," what were you doing on that roof?" His question isn't accusatory, or angry, just concerned. She thought for a second then, tears once again in her eyes she began to tell him everything. Once she finished Natsu stood turned out the light and returned.

Standing over her he says softly, "You'll sleep her tonight ok".

She nods and he picks her up and places her on the bed. As he turns away she grabs his hand and looks into his eyes.

"Stay with me. Please just until I fall asleep". She pleads and he nods. She moves over to one side of the bed and he sits partially upright. She gets close to him and leans her head on his chest closing her eyes and falling asleep to the gentle rise and fall of his chest. He wraps one arm around her and lays his head on top of hers.

-Levy-

Levy wakes to the sound of her alarm. She rises from her pillows and stretches. It's a little before the school alarm goes off and she gets ready like everyday. After she eats she heads to Gajeels dorm to say good morning. It's a long breathless greeting that only ends when the school alarm sounds. She disengages from Gajeel and heads to Lucy's dorm to wake her.

Levy hesitates in front of Lucy's door. She's never liked going in there. She worries one day she'll find Lucy dead, or worse. She opens the door and peers inside. Her stomach drops as she sees the sheets torn from the bed and Lucy nowhere in sight. She rushes to the bathroom and stares dismayed and the medicine cabinet, the door hanging from a single hinge and bottles flung everywhere. She checks the whole room but Lucy is nowhere here either.

Levy begins to panic, who knows what Lucy could be doing, wandering around in a hazy rage. She doesn't want to think of all the possibilities that flood her mind. Wresting control over herself Levy calls Gajeel.

"Hey shrimp, what's shaking"? His voice rings over the speaker calming Levy enough to speak.

"It's Lucy, She's missing". Her voice is shaky and drips with fear.

For a time the line is silent until Gajeel speaks. " I'll get some people on it", he pauses before continuing in a tender tone," Don't worry we'll find her."

He hangs up and she slumps to the floor. She cries hoping with all her heart that Lucy's alright. She could never forgive herself if she didn't come back safe.

A few minutes later she receives a text from Gajeel, " We found her. She's in Natsu's dorm."

She's already running when the next text arrives and she doesn't stop to read it. It reads: " Don't worry, she's fine. I'm heading to your dorm, meet me there before you do anything."

-Natsu-

Natsu rouses slowly. He glances at his clock and groans. He goes to rub his eyes but stops as he feels a weight on his arm. There's a muffled groan below his neck, and he looks down to see Lucy. Her head is resting on his chest and her torso and legs are pressed up against him. He glances at the clock again and decides to stay still at least until the school alarm sounds.

Natsu sits with Lucy sleeping atop him for another half an hour before he becomes conscious of his need to pee. He tries to delicately disentangle himself from her but it's nearly impossible. After a minute of struggling he finally detaches himself and heads to the bathroom.

He returns to find Lucy sprawled over the bed. He chuckles quietly and enters the kitchenette. He sets about making breakfast.

Natsu's cracking eggs when the school alarm rings. Lucy raises her head and rubs her eyes. Natsu smiles, her hair is a mess and he can't help but thinking she looks adorable in his shirt.

"Morning sleeping beauty", He says cheerily.

Lucy looks around and gets to her feet somewhat wobbly. She winces as all her scraps and cuts are stretched by her movement. She walks over to the counter and sits on a stool.

She fidgets for a moment before speaking," Thankyou. For saving me I mean." she looks down, " I'm sure i wouldn't be breathing today if you hadn't".

Natsu poors the eggs he'd been whisking into a pan to scramble. " It's fine.", he turns to her. " I help people out of habit".

She giggles at this and wipes the mist from her eyes. " Yeah you're right". She pauses before looking back at him. " I feel safe around you."

Natsu sighs dumping the eggs onto a couple of plates. " you're probably the first person to say that in years".

She inhales as he passes a plate to her . " I don't normally have this much… awareness, without going insane." the words are slow and choked, like they are a pain to say.

Natsu looks up and sighs. " If you ever need my help you know where I am". He sits beside her and begins eating. She leans in to him and starts eating as well.

suddenly the door flies open and Gajeel bursts in.

" Boss, I need your help I'm looking for-". His voice trails off as his eyes fall on Lucy eggs halfway to her mouth.

A smile plays at the corners of his mouth, as he takes in the shirt she's wearing and the mussed up sheets. He turns to Natsu, "Well congrats on the hit. But Levy's worried sick, so a notification would've been useful".

Lucy's and Natsu's eyes both go wide at his words. " It's n-n-not… We didn't… No!", they both stutter in unison. Gajeel's already on his phone texting Levy.

"I'm gonna head over to meet her at her dorm to talk her down before she gets here. You two just sit tight." he leaves as he's talking closing the door behind him on his way out.

Lucy finishes her eggs and Natus takes the plate to the sink. She strides to the couch and her eyes fall on a long white piece of thick quilted fabric. She picks it up and looks at it. Natsu walks up behind her and takes it wrapping it around her neck.

"It's a scarf, I got it from my father. Before he died." he says softly.

Lucy puts her hands up to the scarf and lifts the fabric to her face. She could swear it smelled like Natsu, and she found it comforting.

Natsu walks towards his dresser calling back over his shoulder, " I'll get you some pants to borrow so we can get you to your room".

As Lucy waits for him to return the door bursts open again and Levy rushes in. Natsu turns a pair of sweatpants in his hand. As Levy charges in. marching up to him and sticking her hand in his face. Natsu holds up his hands and backs up as she berates him.

" You sick ass. What do you think you were doing with Lucy? So help me if you anything that hurt her, I'll kick your ass myself! Do you think it's fun scaring me half to death while you have your way with my best friend." She inhales for more but Lucy intercedes.

"Levy stop, he didn't do anything." Lucy shouts aware that she doesn't look convincing of that point.

Levy turns to Lucy shock in her eyes. " You're sober", she breathes quietly. Lucy nods.

Natsu blushing thoroughly says," I can attest to that. In fact she was sober all night." He makes a cutting motion trying to appeal to Lucy not to elaborate on the subject.

Levy looks Lucy up and down, noticing the scrapes on her legs. Lucy walks over to Natsu who hands her the pants. She tugs them on and turns back to Levy who was staring at the scrapes on her hands and lower back that were exposed as she dressed.

"What happened?" Levy asks at length.

Lucy explains the events from the previous evening. Glossing over the part where she and Natsu had shared the bed. Levy just looks on stunned.

FInally she says," we need to get you ready for class". She grabs Lucy's hand who in turn grabs Natsu's who grabs the Jeans and t-shirt he'd set out the night before for this morning as Levy Drags them to Lucy's dorm. She Drags Lucy through the door and turns to stop her from dragging Natsu in with them.

She closes the door on him and he's left in the hall pants in hand. He looks around before quickly switching his clothes. He watches the door waiting for the girls. In a surprisingly short time they are back out and Lucy latches on to his hand with her own as Levy once again begins leading them away. He tosses his Pjs through the door as it swings shut and is pulled along by the girls.

When they arrive at the class Lucy refuses to sit in the back, wanting to sit in the front with Natsu. NAtsu tries to ask the guy next to him to move but the guy is already in the back by the time he finishes saying hey. Natsu blinks atthis and shrugs.

Lucy shoves her desk closer to his and leans against him for the whole class. Natsu glances At Levy nervously but she seems fine with it. " _I will never understand women"_ he thinks adamantly.

During the Class everyone looks a lot more relaxed around him. He doesn't quite know why but he feels relaxed to and he can't help but smile as Lucy takes notes with her arm looped through his.

-Lucy-

*in Lucy's dorm*

Lucy spins around for Levy to see her 's dressed in Legging and a long sleeve shirt that's both cute and concealing. She nods and looks seriously at Lucy. " We need you to get him to stay with you. Try to play the role of loving girlfriend for a while. We can't have him saying anything, and it would probably help make it easier for everyone if they see you relaxed with him." she says straightening Lucy's shirt.

Lucy doesn't see any reason for anyone to be on edge around him, and didn't think she'd have trouble pretending to love him. She was pretty sure she already did, and she was naturally very affectionate and Clingy. She smiled as Levy pushed her to the door.

A note: I probably won't be able to upload next week because I have finals all this week. :(

I hope you're all enjoying my work. Nyaaa!


	5. Chapter 4

Lucy leans against Natsu. The class seems wary of him, but she's not sure why. She took notes as the teacher spoke but was only paying partial attention. She was much more interested in how any of this made sense. She struggled to wrap her head around how, and why Natsu seemed to wipe away years of grief. She never came to a reasonable conclusion and was still wandering when the bell rang.

Lucy Begins cleaning up, looking at Natsu as she does. Suddenly a thought crosses her mind, " _We don't have the same class for second."_ she's brought to focus as Levy comes up to her and Natsu.

"Lucy, we need to get to English. Do you remember how to get there?", Levy asks quickly, flipping through a notebook at the same time.

Lucy puts a hand to her chin appearing to think hard." No clue." she says at length.

Levy nods, " I expected as much", she says jotting something in her book. " I'll take you there". She turns to Natsu, " see you at lunch ." she finishes, turning and grabbing Lucy's hand.

Levy begins to walk away But is brought up short by Lucy. "Can't I stay with Natsu?" Lucy whines. She slumps slightly and gives Levy a pouty look.

Levy looks torn for a second. She looks over to Natsu who is quite purposefully studying an apple. She sighs and says," Natsu what's your second period.

Natsu looks away from his apple and says sheepishly," It's uh… Science."

Levy sighs again, "that's in the same direction. Natsu do you mind walking us to class?" she looks down and shifts from one foot to the other.

Natsu rubs the back of his neck flushing slightly." Of course I will. As long as you don't mind, that is.", He says avoiding eye contact.

Levy shakes her head and says, " of course I don't mind dumbass. Why else would I have asked?"

Natsu shrugs. Lucy grabs his hand and looks up into his eyes. He feels a smile tug at his lips and starts leading the way out of the room. Levy follows him and Lucy a scowl on her face. She did not like quite how close Lucy already seemed to be to Natsu. She Still did not trust him around her.

Lucy walked, her fingers intertwined with Natsu's. She felt safe when in contact with him, like all her fear and pain just didn't exist. She didn't want to part with him for that very reason. She worried that if he left her she would be overcome with those feelings again. For now she was safe, but what if that changed?

As they walk Students stare after them. Lucy giggles and gets closer to Natsu as the staring eyes follow them. They reach the English room and Lucy hesitates to release her grip on Natsu's hand.

"Lucy we gotta leave Natsu here, ok?" Levy says gently, placing her hand on Lucy's arm.

Lucy pouts but lets go of Natsu. She turns to follow Levy through the door. She looks back to see Natsu Waving with a big grin on his face. She felt reassured and more than a little attracted. She steps into the room.

Lucy first feels cold seep into her bones as she crosses the threshold. She feels the whispers creeping into her mind. Unconsciously she reaches up to her neck. Her fingers brush thick quilted fabric. Natsu's scarf, until now she'd forgotten it was around her neck. She raises the fabric to her face and inhales. Natsu's scent fills her senses. The whispers quiet and the cold lessens. She'd found a lifeline to Natsu, a way to stay with him even if they were apart.

-Natsu-

Natsu lingers outside the English classroom for a moment after saying goodbye to Lucy. He finally turns and begins walking to his class. He wears a scowl once more and the students part for him like the red sea. His evident displeasure stems from an unease he can't quite identify. There is a sense of needing to do something, but no clue what it was. He sighed as he turned into the science room.

The room is full of students, all of which retreat to the opposite side of the room at his arrival. As Natsu takes his seat a students detaches themself from the crowd to stand in front of his desk. It's a girl Natsu doesn't recognize, she's relatively tall and quite slender, her hair falls down her back like a curtain of fire, but most noticable is the malice and aggression in her eyes.

She stands before him, her left leg stuck out a slit in her ruby dress, one hand on her hip the other twirling some of her hair. She leans down planting her elbows on the table. Natsu looks into her eyes before speaking.

" I don't think i've seen you here before." Natsu pauses weighing his options. " What is your business with me, and how in the heck did you get that dress past dress code?" he's uneasy, she obviously isn't friendly and he didn't like having to fight a girl no matter how crazy she evidently was.

She tilts her head and smiles before speaking, " So you're the new big boy around here." she chuckles and raises her arms from the desk. " My business is simple, my employer wants your little institution shut down, and he'll do anything to make it happen." she reaches down the front of her dress and pulls out a small piece of paper. She places on the desk.

It's a picture of Lucy and him from less than an hour ago. It was obviously taken from outside the window and was a little blurry as if it had been taken from a great distance. She walks around beside him and leans over close to his ear.

" You wouldn't want anything to happen to that little piece of arm candy, now would you?" she asks in a pouty sing song. She chuckles again.

Natsu sits stunned for a second before pure protective rage races through his veins. He reaches up and grabs her under the chin. She yelps as he rises and pulls her in to face him. He lifts her off her feet and growls out a sentence, " Touch her and I will end all you care for why you watch from a pool of your own blood."

She claws at his hand but can't break his iron grip on her jaw. He squeezes and tears flood her eyes as a soft crackling sound is heard through the silent air. Natsu's eyes go from a fiery rage to subtle fear and he throws her to the ground. She cries and holds her face. Natsu sits and faces away from her. He is sickened by his anger but knows it was justified, but he still didn't like it.

The whole classroom releases a collective breath and a couple students collect the girl from the floor and escort her from the room. Everyone thinks they just saw the guy running the criminal underground beat down some slut. Nobody heard what either one actually said, but news spread very quickly.

As Natsu walked down the hall to lunch he heard people talking. News of his encounter with the red haired girl had already spread, but as usual was greatly warped. The story's ranged widely, the most popular one didn't seem terrible, but wasn't good either. It went that he was really loyal to his girl and that some two bit gold digger had tried to sway him to cheat, but she miscalculated and sent him into a rage. The details were wrong but he gist was the same, except they also said he'd beaten her savagely and repeatedly for five minutes. Natsu sighs as he enters the cafeteria, coming face to face with a different redhead.

Erza stood glaring at him. Natsu faltered briefly, but stood straight and looked her in the eye. He recalled Gajeel's words, _she was the only thing keeping this place civil before us,_ and figured this was about the redhead.

" what can I do for you mis?," he asks sincerely,hoping this is about something else. He nearly winces when she replies.

" You, Natsu Dragneel, have gone much too far. I'm here to stop your malicious acts." she drops her left leg back and shifts her weight subtly.

Natsu can see the tiny movements, and knows she's about to attack and exactly how. She starts moving, her left foot speeding toward his head. It never makes contact because his hand is already there. He catches her by the heel and tugs her off balance. She begins to fall but catches herself and spins out of his grasp coming up in a crouch.

Natsu can't help but smile, " _this chick is good"_ he thinks as he settles into a stance. " I'm pretty hungry so please hurry", he says tauntingly," _maybe I'm spending too much time around Gajeel"_ he thinks.

She lunges again dropping low to sweep his leg. He raises it and stamps down grazing the heel of her shoe. She stands and swings a haymaker with her left. He steps into the punch and catches her at the elbow, squeezing. She kicks up into his crotch but his other hand once again catches her leg.

They stand like that for a second until Erza breaks the silence. " it seems we are at an impasse. I cannot hit you in this position and I don't believe you can either". She says in a growl.

Natsu tilts his head and says, " no I don't believe we are." he then lifts her into the air, she struggles, futily as he lifts her above his head. He stops and speaks again.

" If you promise to hear me out I'll put you down." he speaks loud enough for only her to hear.

She grits her teeth and nods. " I promise to listen, but I don't promise to believe or indulge you."

He lowers her to the ground. She backs up a step and glares at him. He walks past her toward the serving counter and says softly follow me I'll explain everything I can".

Natsu and Erza sit across from each other, Natsu stares blankly at Erza who wears a look of deep contemplation. Finally Erza breaks the silence, " Is all of this true? and don't lie, i'll know if this answer is false."

Natsu takes a deep breath and speaks, "yes". Erza blinks at him and hen rises,nods, and leaves. Natsu is left to stew over his potatoes and hope this is the worst thing that happens today.

Gajeel hurries up shortly after, leading Levy and Lucy with him. " what's this I hear about you wrecking some chick, and then taking it to the queen of Fairy Hills?" He asks hurriedly.

Natsu watches as Levy tries to keep Lucy from approaching him, but she shrugs her off and walks around the table to sit next to him. She sighs poutily as she snuggles onto his shoulder. He looks at Gajeel and says, " Later, ok?"

Gajeel looks uneasy at first but eventually nods. " You're reasons are yours. Just tell me we don't have trouble coming." He gives Natsu a slightly pleading look.

Natsu shrugs and says, " No promises". He turns his head to look down at Lucy who has adopted the expression of a tired kitten and his face lightens.

Gajeel starts to speak but doesn't. He turns to Levy who is eying Natsu a Lucy. she harrumphs and turns up to look at Gajeel. He leads her off to the counter to get something to eat.

Natsu looks down at his plate, suddenly interested in the potatoes he'd left there. But there was only one left. He spun his head around trying to figure out where it had gone. He looks down again as a slender hand grabs the little potato and withdrawals. He follows it back to Lucy's mouth, which is painted with a mixture of glee and mischief. He laughs, a genuine soul filled laugh, and she giggles along with it.

-Lucy-

Lucy sat in third period feeling slightly gloomy. She hated that she and Natsu only shared one class, because it meant she couldn't spend much time with him. She huffed a sigh and flipped the page of her textbook. History, she decided, was the worst subject in the world. She sighed again thinking of Natsu.

Lucy sat in fourth period, still thinking of Natsu. She was now 100 percent sure that Art was the world's worst elective. She added the last bit of shading on a portrait of Natsu, on which included the musculature of his upper torso, and sighed leaning on her hand. Levy looked over at her with a concerned look. She didn't like how attached Lucy was to Natsu, especially after what she'd heard about his temper today.

As fourth period was drawing to an end Lucy was debating whether to go straight to Natsu's dorm or to stop at her own first. She couldn't really decide, because on one hand she wanted to spend absolutely as much time with Natsu as possible, and on the other there were things in her room she would end up needing. She turned the dilemma over in her mind and eventually decided. When the dismissal bell rang she started off toward her dorm room.

She Opens her door and walks inside her dorm, flicking on the lights she notices Natsu's clothes on her floor. She picks up his shirt and smells it. She sighs and puts his clothes on her bed. She then sets about packing clothes and personal belongings into a duffel bag. She enters the bathroom and opens the cabinet, startling as it falls onto the bottom hinge. The cabinet is full of empty prescription bottles, the sight makes Lucy uncomfortable. She leaves the bathroom and feels a draft from the window.

She moves to the window, confused because she thought it had been closed when she'd arrived. Lucy closes the window and turns back to the her room. She gasps as she comes face to face with a large man dressed in black. He grabs her and clamps a hand over her mouth as he spins her into him. He shoves a wad of fabric in her mouth, making it hard to breath. She tries to wrench away from him but he's too strong. He hits her in the head and the room reels she fights the urge to vomit as he tapes over her mouth. He ties her hands behind her and her feet at the ankles. He then pulls her arms together and ties them together at the elbows, and loops another rope at her knees. Her shoulders ache in protest and the ropes are rubbing her scrapes and cuts from the previous night.

Lucy's thoughts straighten as the man takes out a phone and makes a call. She can't understand his words over a persistent ring in her ears but can see him nodding out of the corner of her eye. He leans back over her and grabs Natsu scarf, she tries to fight but the ropes make almost impossible. She screams as he pulls it off, the sound muffled by the gag. She begins to cry as whispers begin to make themselves heard drowning out even the ring in her ears.

The man disappears from her view and returns a moment later without the scarf. He grabs her and throws her over his shoulder. She's stopped fighting and just cries as he opens the window and climbs out, descending the fire escape. On the ground he throws her roughly into the back of a car.

The drive was relatively smooth, but her arms and legs burned the whole time, and the voices in her head were practically shouting over one another. The ringing in her ears had faded leaving a dull throb, and a feeling of exhaustion. Tears stream down her face as the car comes to a sudden stop. Pain throbs in her head and a loud clanking sound resonates through the trunk. The voices begin speaking plainly to her.

Her father," _You're nothing but a hindrance."_ Levy, " _who ever cared for you, I certainly can't think of a reason to."_ Natsu, " _I wish you'd leave me be, you detestable addict."_ and another voice clearer than the rest _, " Why take it, just show them you're worth something, go on"_ the voice is soothing but unfamiliar. It's words drive her pain away and all she feels are the ropes snap under her strength as she sinks into a gray silence.

Schedule explained: The school alarm sounds at 7:30. First period starts at 9:00. Each Period is two hours long, with a one hour lunch. This schedule is in place to provoke more advanced learning and to limit free time amongst students, who were generally admitted as a last resort school. however the disciplinary system is notoriously lax, while still having a great school behavioral record.

The school has two buildings, one is the dormitory which is 15 stories, each being able to support up to 100 students. The main school building connects at each floor to the dormitory with bridges. The main school building has four floors, one for each grade level ( freshmen,sophmore,junior,senior.) each floor has an auditorium, gymnasium, cafeteria, core classrooms as well as several expanded curriculum activities. this is also to limit fraternizatin during school hours.


	6. Chapter 5

Natsu'd been getting a lot of fearful and dirty looks during third and fourth period, one girl had even looked at him lustily, which made him shudder. He now sat across from Gajeel in his dorm. He'd explained the situation with The redhead and Erza, and now waited for Gajeel's opinion in the matter. Gajeel shakes his head and swears.

" This is bad, this is really bad. Are you sure she was threatening Blondie?" Gajeel asks frantically.

Natsu nods once, " There is no doubt in my mind. Did you hear how bad she was hurt?" Natsu replies, concern creeping into his voice.

Gajeel shakes his head, " She's fine, won't be able to eat any solid food for a week but otherwise fine. You are way too soft to be a gang leader." Gajeel says calming down.

Natsu shrugs, " It was never my intention to be one. You should go check on Levy and Lucy, they're probably at Lucy's." He says rising.

Gajeel stand, nods and says, " You're probably right, they've never failed before. What time is it anyway?"

Natsu checks his alarm clock reading off the time. " Six thirty-four".

Gajeels phone rings, and he answers it with a grin, " Shrimp we were just talking ab-", He stops mid sentence his eyes growing dark he speaks into the phone. " You're positive, absolutely sure?" he looks at Natsu as he hangs up. " We gotta go Lucy was taken from her room".

Natsu goes cold, he's not sure why but pure terror envelopes him. The fear however quickly burns away to a rage he'd never felt the equal to. he strides to his dresser and pulls out the bottom drawer emptying it he withdraws a black case, he opens it and take out it's contents. Gajeel's face splits in a grin described only as hateful and envious.

-Levy-

As Levy walked through the halls of the school she felt a growing unease, the source of which she could not explain. She'd remained in art for a little bit to help the teacher and hadn't realized Lucy leaving. She threaded her way through the twisted corridors towards Lucy's dorm. She was unsure of how to feel about Lucy miraculous, and inexplicable recovery. She arrived at Lucy's door, took a deep breath and entered.

She was prepared to confront Lucy, for an argument, or to comfort her, she was even prepared to forcibly convince her of Natsu's maliciousness. But she was not prepared for a packed bag, Natsu's scarf and a brownish red stain on the carpet. She swallowed and trying not to look at the floor she steps over to the note, her knees are weak and she grabs the edge of the desk to steady herself.

The not reads, " _Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander. The Ravens wish to speak with you tonight at 8:00Pm in warehouse 7 on Canal rd. We have heiress, if you want her unharmed you'll come alone."_

Levy dropped the note, and fell to her knees, tears flowing unbidden from her eyes. She clenched her teeth and dialed Gajeel's number. When he answered she shakily, and slowly told him of the note. After he hung up she began to cry in earnest, fearing for Lucy's fate.

When Natsu and Gajeel arrived, she'd stopped crying but her eyes were red and bloodshot, and her nose was stopped up. She said nothing only handed the note to Gajeel. Gajeel looked over the parchment and then handed it to Natsu. Natsu looked up from the paper and spoke.

" I'll head in alone. Get me a car there by eight thirty." He crumpled the paper and started to leave but Levy caught his arm.

" You kill those bastards, you understand?" She said, her words choked and pained. Natsu regards her, a darkness entering his eyes.

" I will." He says brandishing a strange cylindrical device with a large canister coming out the back. He exits the room and Levy collapses against Gajeel.

-Natsu-

Natsu walked for about an hour before arriving at the warehouse. The door had a large white stick figure roughly painted on the front. He paused as he came to the door, it was far too quiet for his tastes. He grabs the handle and tries the door, it's unlocked. He steps into the dark depths of the warehouse.

As he passes the threshold he becomes aware of a sickeningly sweet metallic scent. He brushed his hand against the wall. Finding a switch he flicks it on and the room is thrown into bright relief. Natsu catches his breath at the sight.

In the center of the warehouse is a single vehicle, it looks to have been white, but is now smeared with blood. Around it in a massive pool of blood lie a couple dozen corpses spread out from the trunk. And in the middle of it is Lucy, knees hugged to her chest rocking back and forth. Natsu rushes over blood splashing slightly against his feet.

He reaches out to Lucy, but as he does she jumps up swinging a knife at him. He dodges back, and she reverses the knife leaping at him plunging it down. He leans sideways, the knife cutting his arm. He wraps her in his arms as she bucks and fights. After a moment she slackens, and breathes his name before, her eyes close and she goes limp in his grasp.

Natsu carries her from the circle of carnage and lays her on the floor. She's covered in blood, some of it coming from several gashes on her arms and torso. Her clothes are soaked with blood and torn all over, her hair matted with more dried blood. Her left wrist is cocked sideways, and extremely swollen. Her knuckle are bruised and busted. Natsu inspects her wounds and finds nothing life threatening. He once again surveys the corpses and looks down at Lucy's face, he brushes the hair from her cheek and softly speaks.

"I'm so sorry, this is my fault". His voice cracks, and tears start to cloud his vision. He leans down and presses his forehead against hers. " I swear, I won't let anything happen to you, ever again.

-Gajeel-

Gajeel sat in the driver's seat of an old plateless car, Levy sitting next to him. The drive was quiet, neither one of them wishing to break the silence. The car had come from one of Gajeel's old contacts, supposedly untraceable. They rounded the corner and pulled up along the fence outside yard thirteen.

They waited five minutes before Gajeel saw movement, at the side door. Peering through the darkness, he could make out a lone figure carrying something pretty large. He tapped Levy on the shoulder, and she turned to look at him. He pointed and she followed his finger. She squinted and her expression grew brighter.

"It's Natsu, I can see the pink on his head." she breathed a sigh, then paused her face growing darker. " then he must be carrying Lucy." She turned throwing the door open and leaping from the car.

Gajeel swore, and followed. Levy ran up yo Natsu, Gajeel close behind. Natsu Nodded at Levy, stopping in front of her. Gajeel came up behind them as Levy began to speak.

" Is she ok?" Levy questioned frantically." What happened in there, what did they do to her?" Levy was panicked, her voice breaking as she stared at Lucy's bruised and battered face.

Natsu shifts Lucy to one arm, and grabs Levy's shoulder. " Don't worry, she's gonna be ok, we just need to get her to a hospital." he smiles reassuringly but it doesn't reach his eyes.

Gajeel notices his shirt is missing, and the strips of clothes being used as tourniquets, all over Lucy's arms. Natsu turns to him and speaks, " We need to leave, now." Gajeel nods and leads the way back to the car.

Levy climbs into the back, and Natsu lays Lucy across the seat her head in Levy's lap. Natsu then sits in the front across from Gajeel. Gajeel turns the car on and pulls away from the yard. They round the corner off of canal street, and Natsu check his watch. Suddenly an explosion sounds through the air. A fireball many times taller than the surrounding buildings, erupts from yard seven. As the air stills and Gajeel's vision readjusts to the sudden light, Natsu smiles, " It was all an accident, right?" Gajeel swallows and nods, driving to a hospital he's connected to to have Lucy treated. He has a new found fear of this boy, but not for himself, more accurately for any who cause him harm.

-Lucy-

Lucy slowly opens her eyes. She's lying in a bed, her whole body hurts, especially her head and left arm. She starts as her last waking memory returns. She'd been kidnapped, what had happened, where was she, she'd been in a trunk.

She bolts upright, and winces, as pain shoots through her body, yelping loudly. A strong hand lands on her shoulder. She looks over, fear in her eyes. But that fear is quickly replaced by relief as she sees Natsu. She tries to speak but can't get the words out past the growing lump in her throat. Tears fill her eyes, distorting her vision. Natsu leans over her and hugs her, firmly but gently.

After she calms he pulls away and his eyes get stern, in a caring, cute, sort of way. " You should lay back down, you went through alot." He says trying to sound commanding, and failing.

She lays back and asks, " what exactly happened?" her voice is shaky.

Natsu reaches over and pulls her blanket up higher. " You were taken, I went and got you." he says plainly but she can tell, that's not all.

"Then why do I feel like I was beaten, to within an inch of my life?" her voice is rising but collapses into painful coughs.

Natsu eyes go cold and she feels fear from him for the first time. " They did this, but they won't be able to touch you again."

Lucy still doesn't think that's all, but drops it. And instead looks around, she's back in Natsu's room. She raises her hands in front of her face. Her left hand is sore, and in a heavy cast. Her other hand is wrapped with gauze. Her arms are covered in stitched up cuts and a few faded bruises are evident. She pauses, Why were they fading.

She looks at Natsu and asks, " how long was I asleep?"

Natsu shrugs, "Been a couple days, you had a concussion." he says adding. " Now get some rest, and if you're feeling up for it I'll get you something to eat."

She nods and Natsu walks to the kitchenette. Lucy sits up against some the pillow. She moves the blanket down and surveys her torso. It's also bruised, but free from anything more than some scratches. Her ribs feel sore, but not broken. She drops her shirt, and sighs as Natsu brings her a bowl of oatmeal. She smiles despite herself, she has after all had worse.

Over the next couple days, Lucy stayed in Natsu's Dorm. He'd make her food, in the mornings and evenings, and just sit with her whenever she needed it. Levy came back from classes with Natsu, bringing her the school work she'd missed. She'd been taken on Thursday, and woken up on sunday, by the next wednesday her bruises had fully healed and her head felt fine. Thursday morning she was accompanying Natsu to class.

She Had opted to not cover her stitches, deciding to own the injuries instead. The cast was itchy on her wrist as she steps into the classroom next to Natsu. The whole class looks glad to see her, but they're smiles die as they see the cast and stitches. Most of the students looked away uncomfortably, but a couple girls look at Natsu angrily.

Lucy, smiled and waved with her good hand. She then nudged Natsu's arm, Natsu waved. Lucy and Natsu went and sat together, Lucy made a show of Being comfortable with, him and wanting to be close to him.

The class went by uneventfully. At the end of it Natsu walked her to second where she and Levy sat together. Before class, a few girls came up to Lucy, concerned looks on there faces.

" Are you ok, like do you need help with…", the front girl said, trailing off.

Lucy looked at her and tilted her head, " What do you mean?" she asked, " I'm doing just fine see." she gestures to her work space and her dominant hand being unencumbered.

The girls looked uncomfortable, " No like domestically. Should we call someone for you".

Lucy blinked, " Why would you think me and Natsu had any issue. I don't think I like what you're saying." Lucy was defiant, but the girls seemed to think she was just scared to say something, because they all shared a sad look.

" Don't worry, It's obvious he's hurting you. I saw him carrying you into his room last week." she pauses shrugging. " I mean, that guy, it's almost expected."

Lucy looked at the desk, and grew quiet. Levy put a hand on her shoulder. Lucy looked back up, her eyes lined with tears. " What about Natsu would make you say that about him?" her voice is strained, barely held together. " He is the sweetest, most caring, and kindest, boy I have ever met. I was attacked, without Natsu's help I might not have survived. So I don't want to hear you insult him." Her voice grows stronger and angrier as she speaks. The girls scowl, and walk off shaking their head sadly.

" You know, Gajeels way sweeter than Natsu", Levy jibes.

Lucy chuckles, rubbing the tears from her eyes. " Why would people think Natsu's a bad person?" she asks, her voice steady again.

Levy's expression grows awkward. She looks around fidgeting. " U-u-um, I don't… don't uh… well you see, what were we talking about again?" Levy stammers.

Lucy eyes her, but turns to the front as the bell rings. She thinks to herself, " _I need to figure this out. I'll ask Natsu later."_ Lucy opens her Notebook and settles in to take notes, sniffling slightly.

Lucy enters the cafeteria and scans the room for Natsu. She sees him at the counter, surrounded by several girls. Lucy storms towards them, a grumpy look on her face. But she pauses a few yards from the congregation. The girls directly around Natsu look angry and a few of the ones around the edge are fearful. She can't hear the girls over the chatter of the cafeteria, but the one in front of him is gesticulating wildly. Lucy sidles closer to the group.

…" Can't just treat a woman like that, do you have any morals?" the girl says angrily.

" I didn't do anything", Natsu says quietly. " Please just leave me alone." He pleads turng away with his tray of food.

" Don't walk away from me. If we see any sign of you touching her again, we will call the authorities." She says heatedly.

Natu puts his tray on the counter, and turns to face her. Natsu's voice grows stronger, louder, as he replies, " I didn't ,just leave me alone!" he spreads his arms, and the girls yelp and draw back.

Natsu's face goes slack for a second and then he gets angry, he turns flipping an empty table as he stalks off. Lucy notices his, as he walks away him drawing his arm across his face.

Lucy stalks up to the girl who'd berated him. She turns turns to face her as Lucy gets close. Lucy slaps the girl across the face, and her head is forced sideways.

" What in the hell is you're problem?" the girl cries. She turns to face Lucy, rage in her eyes.

" Leave Natsu alone. He hasn't done anything to deserve being treated like that." Lucy yells. She pushes past her and grabs Natsu's forgotten tray, turning to rush after him.

She finds him in the hall sitting with his back to the wall, head hung low. She crouches in front of him and says tenderly, " Natsu, are you alright? Don't listen to those girls. They were just being hateful."

Natsu inhales, " I'm fine. Just needed a minute". He looks up and smiles weakly at her.

Lucy smiles back. " Why would they pick you for a target? especially for such wicked accusations, you're the sweetest person I know." She Took the opportunity to pry about why people seemed against Natsu.

Natsu shook his head, " Don't worry, I can take accusations, threats, even attacks." He pauses, " But them being scared of me, that's what made me upset." He stands, reaching his hand down to pull Lucy up.

They stand together before walking back into the cafeteria. Gajeel and Levy are waiting for them. Natsu and Lucy sit across from them. They talk and laugh together, and Lucy feels at home among her friends. Lucy sat with Natsu, forgetting all about her trepidations as to his nature and just relaxed throughout the lunch hour.

After classes ended Levy grabbed Lucy's hand and kept her from rushing from the room. "Stay and help me clean up. We'll head back afterward, ok?" L evy says sweetly.

Lucy makes a pouty face, " Fine." she says, " I'll help, but I'm going to visit Natsu after."

Levy nods, "Of course, We'll be meeting him and Gajeel at his room."

Lucy, cocks her head and sets about organizing the pencils. After they finished cleaning Levy lead the way to Natsu's dorm. Gajeel is waiting outside leaning against the door frame. He greets them as they approach.

" Hey, Shrimp, Blondie, how you two doing. You ready for the big-" Levy cuts him off, by swatting him in the chest.

" Shhhhh! Not yet." Levy hisses in a poor imitation of a whisper. They both turn to Lucy and smile, "innocently".

Gajeel still smiling , opens the door and gestures for Lucy to enter. Levy drives Lucy forward from behind. Entering the room,Lucy immediately sees a plastic folding table, laden with food. The next thing she sees, is a second bed opposite Natsu's, as well as a second dresser. And standing behind the table is Natsu, and three others, she recognized but couldn't place.

" Lucy, this is Gray, Juvia, and Wendy. They're friends of ours, and they'll be joining us for dinner." Natsu says gesturing to each in turn.

Lucy waved, and walked over to Natsu. " What's with the furniture?" She asks.

Natsu flushes, " well… it's so you can stay hear. If you want to I mean." Natsu, stammers.

Lucy smiles, and nods. " I'd like that." she says simply.

Dinner goes by boisterously. Wendy leaves first, followed by gray and Juvia, who promise to " Be quiet", Lucy wasn't sure what they meant. Finally Levy and Gajeel depart, leaving Lucy and Natsu alone. They clean up the dishes, and fold the table leaning it against the counter.

" So, the only way Levy, would let me ask you to continue staying here, was if you had a seperate bed." Natsu says sheepishly. " I would of kept sleeping on the couch, but I think Gajeel got in her head."

Lucy smiles, " Yeah, I noticed he seemed to be a pretty colorful fellow." she says cheerily. " Well, I think we should get ready for bed. I'll go change in the bathroom, you go next, kay."

Natsu begins to answer but is left silent as Lucy is already in the bathroom. She exits a few minutes later in a bathrobe. Natsu steps pat her into the bathroom to change into his Pajamas.

Exiting the Bathroom he finds Lucy sitting on his bed, Reading by the lamp. She looks up and pats the bed beside her. " come cuddle with me. Please." she says adorably.

Natsu walks up to the bed and sits beside her. Lucy closes the book and takes out a pad and pencils.

" Take off your shirt so I can draw you." she says flipping to a clean page.

Natsu hesitates, " why?" He asks confused.

" just do it, I want to draw with a muse." she says exasperated. " Up to now I've had to guess, what your ab… Never mind." she says suddenly flushing.

Natsu smiles and obliges. He pulls off his shirt revealing a chiselled landscape of muscles, crossed by the Viney tattoos on his chest. Lucy's cheeks turn pink, and she tilts her head.

" I didn't know you, uh, had tattoos." She says shyly. She touches the pencil to the paper and begins to draw. And they remained there until she'd finished. Then she nestled into the crook of his arm, laying her head on his chest.


	7. I'm sorry

I will not be continuing this story. I simply can't keep going on this, I hope you understand the problem I am having. I lost my inspiration. And I just wanna give what I have left to you. this is everything I have written so far, largely unedited. at the end I will reveal where the story was going.

chapter 6:

When Lucy woke she lay still with her eyes closed. She felt so very comfortable, she was warm, her head resting on something solid but comforting, almost cradling. The events of the night before, drifted through her thoughts and her eyes snapped open. She was staring at Natsu's jaw, her head resting on his chest, rising and falling slowly as he breathed.

Lucy went to rise but was pinned under his arm. She slowly tried to slide his arm over her head. He yawned, and rolled over, right on top of her. He wrapped his other arm around her as well and nestled his chin atop her head. Her wrist panged as he was pressed to his chest. She let out a quiet squeak of pain and Natsu's eyes shot open. He drew away releasing her.

Lucy sat up on the bed and looked over at Natsu, his face was etched with guilt. Lucy fumbled for words to ease the tension. Finally she decided to make a jab at some humor.

" you." She said in a mockingly accusatory tone, " just tried to strangle me in **your** sleep." She giggled at the end, and he seemed to relax.

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck speaking quietly. " sorry, I sorta fell asleep." he pauses glancing at Lucy's unused bed." I, uh, shoulda been more careful."

Lucy smiled blushing feverishly. " No need to apologize. I enjoyed cuddling. All. Night. Long."

" I'll go get breakfast ready, you get ready for the day. By the way your hair is, like, everywhere right now." Natsu says walked toward the kitchenette.

Lucy throws a pillow at him, missing, and walks to the bathroom. She wraps the cast on her wrist in a plastic bag and seals off the open end with an elastic band. She strips off her bathrobe, and steps into the shower stall. It's awkward bathing with only one usable hand, but she manages.

After exiting the shower she dries off the best she can before removing the bag. She wraps herself in her towel and steps up to the mirror. She dries and brushes her hair. She begins to turn from the mirror, but stops spotting Natsu's cologne. A devilish smile creeps over her face.

She exits the bathroom still wrapped in a towel and walks to her dresser. Bending over slightly to pull out some clothes. turning she strides back into the bathroom. Glancing over at Natsu as she turns, Smiling triumphantly when she sees him. He's standing stockstill, a sizzling pan in his hand, jaw slack and face red.

She exits the bathroom again a moment later, dressed in a grey tank top and a black skirt that fell to her mid thigh. Natsu is sitting at the counter, half a plate of pancakes already in his mouth. She sits on the stool next to him, in front of a veritable mountain of fluffy, syrupy, love. She takes a bite and, looks to Natsu.

" Marry, me." She demands. " Like, seriously, I'll Get the job, and you just make pancakes all day."

Natsu finishes his bite of pancakes, and looks at her. " That" he says, " Sounds like a special kind of boring."

He stands mussing her hair, and laughing as he walks to the sink placing his plate beside it. He walks back past Lucy, her face painted in mock pain and sorrow as he walks to the bathroom.

Lucy fixes her hair, and sets about purposefully, and rapidly, eradicating the pancake population. The morning wake up bell sounds as she finishes. She leans back a bit, and stares at the ceiling. " _This is perfect"_ , she thinks to herself.

Natsu leans his head out of the bathroom. "Lucy, did you use my cologne?" He asks, one eyebrow raised.

Lucy gives him an innocent look. " No way," she says dramatically.

Natsu steps from the bathroom, carrying his shirt. His chest is still damp and his skin shines, little droplets of water roll over his abs, Lucy suppresses a the urge to swoon, and tries to hide the goofy smile spreading over her now red face. Natsu stops over her and inhales deeply through his nose.

His face takes on an accusatory, look. " You totally, did." he exclaims. " What is Levy going to think if she smells my cologne on you?"

Lucy, gives an incredibly innocent look. " I never thought of that", she says in mock shock.

-Natsu-

Natsu tugs on his shirt, and walks to his bed. "You are a devil, you know that." he says over his shoulder. Lucy smiles, and stands bringing her plate to the sink.

There's a knock on the door and Lucy goes to answer it. Natsu looks at the messed up covers of his bed, and Lucy's untouched bed. He rushes to the door catching Lucy by the shoulders and spinning her out of the way. She stares stunned for a second before noticing the beds. Realization dawns and she rushes to the beds.

Natsu opens the door enough to see through and blocks the view with his chest. Standing in the doorway is, Levy and behind her is someone Natsu hadn't been expecting, Erza.

" Morning, Ladies" Natsu says with a forced smile. " How can I help you this fine day". His voice is strained, as panic threatens to overtake him.

Erza clears her throat. " Mr. Dragneel, it has come to my attention, that there are tales of you accosting, and severely injuring Lucy heartfilia."Natsu begins to protest but she cuts him off. " It has also come to my attention that a warehouse blew up on canal street. And that there was a strange instrument found on the scene."she pauses. " considering the conversation we had and other evidence I will not discuss, I believe I owe you a thank you, for silencing those ruffians."

Natsu struggles to find words. But his search is interrupted as Erza steps to go through the door. Natsu gets out of her way, but as she enters he spins her to face the door.

" Thank you, for, uh, believing in my good intentions." He says watching Lucy panicking over her shoulder. The situation was not improving.

Levy pushes in behind him and peers around Erza. Her eyes narrow with suspicion, but she busies herself distracting Erza as well. " It means so much, to me as well. He's a good friend of ours." Levy says, melodramatically.

Erza, stiffens and her eyes shift sideways. " Are you hiding something?" she says at length bending to look Levy in the eye.

Levy shakes her head furiously. " Nothing at all." she insists, " There's definitely nothing we don't want you to see behind you!" she continues. Natsu facepalms screaming internally.

Erza cocks an eyebrow and seems to weigh her options. Eventually a realisation seems to dawn on her, and she goes slightly pink. She pretends to look at a watch, " Oh would ya look at the time, better get going." she says in forced laughter, before striding mechanically through the door.

Levy rushes over to the beds and wraps Lucy in a hug. She sniffs pulls back examines the beds. Rage blooms in her eyes and she stalks over to Natsu, she reaches up to grab his collar and yanks his head down to her level. She sniffs again and releases him.

" You… You despicable... You can't help yourself… I'll cut your… why in the absolute hell… you two are… why in god's name do you two insist… aghhhhh." Levy says beginning many sentences, finishing none.

Lucy steps forward and puts a hand on Levy's shoulder. " Don't worry, we didn't actually do anything last night." She says soothingly. " I just fell asleep, on Natsu." She lowers her voice leaning into Levy's ear. " On his glorious, perfectly sculpted abs, and mountainous pecs."

Levy steps away from her spinning to face her. " You, orchestrated this whole situation." She snaps, " Is this your idea of a joke…" she pauses, " your pulling pranks again."

Levy hugs Lucy again, and pulls back grinning wildly. " You, have a sense of humor again, however twisted and cruel it may be." she turns to Natsu and apologizes before rushing off to meet Gajeel.

"You are a cruel, cruel friend." Natsu says pulling Lucy to his side with one arm, smiling widely.

Lucy huffs. "I have no clue what you're talking about, my despicable, unable to help himself, boyfriend." She says teasingly.

Natsu nods and then stops realization dawning on his face. " Boyfriend?" he asks nervously.

" Yes." Lucy responds, tilting her head.

Natsu, squeezes her to him. And smiles. " I like the sound of that" he says kissing her head.

"Let's make out." Lucy says nonchalantly.

Natsu freezes, " w-what now?" he asks,flustered.

Lucy rolls her eyes, hops up on her tiptoes and kisses him on the lips. It's brief but it fills Natsu with a passion. He wraps his arms around her torso and pulls her to him. Stooping he presses his lips to her's and they melt into a passionate embrace.

Over the next few weeks Natsu and Lucy became well known as a couple. Lucy was always wearing his scarf, which everyone thought was adorable, and many thought probably had a listening device in it. Lucy's stitches were removed and with them all but the last traces of their run in with the Ravens, only faint little scars and the cast on her wrist told of that night. The blame fell from Natsu, and everyone went back to simply fearing him. Lucy also acquired quite the buffer, however where they avoided Natsu most people seemed more concerned with pleasing her. No one spoke against her or those she associated with, and they'd fall over themselves to accomplish anything she requested. The second bed in Natsu's room remained unused, which Natsu was very particular about keeping secret.

The date is October 25th, and Natsu is struggling to pick a costume. He Lucy and the, rather literal, gang are in a costume store that apparently opens yearly just around the corner from the school.

Juvia is trying to convince gray to get a chef costume, which consisted of an apron, a hat, a spatula, and a speedo. She has already decided on a rather skimpy costume, a bikini with cat ears, paw gloves, whiskers and a tail.

Levy pickeda red riding hood costume, and was attempting to convince Gajeel to be a werewolf. Her main argument being it would be a cute couple costume. Gajeel, for his credit, was seriously considering it.

Natsu stared glassy eyed at a rack of costumes. He was seriously out of his depth, and Lucy was so excited he felt pressured to pick a good one. He was still blankly staring past the costumes when someone tapped on his shoulder turning he found Lucy staring at him.

" What do you think?" she asks, in a shy voice.

She was dressed in a short form fitting dress that hugged her curves and sat just a little above her mid thigh. The dress was a brilliant blue and seemed woven from glitter. Her legs were clad in stockings made to look like spider webs, and she wore leaflike slippers. On her back was a pair of large, beautiful wings, the color of which seemed to shift between blue and red. She wore elbow length fingerless gloves,or more accurately one of them as her cast made the other one un wearable, these were also made to look like spider silk. Her hair was held in pig tail by two clips that resembled black widow spiders.

Natsu caught his breath, staring dumbly at her. Her face turned red, and she shied away sheepishly. " I look ridiculous don't I." she says more like a statement then a question.

"N-n-n-no, you look hot- beautiful I mean. You look beautiful." Natsu stumbles out.

"You really think so?" Lucy asks unsure.

"Definitely." Natsu says somewhat dreamily.

Lucy raises an eyebrow, " I'll go change back and then, I think I'll get this one." She says, a slight teasing note in her voice.

Natsu nods and turns back to the costume rack. Levy and Gajeel, walk up next to him each holding a costume bag. They look at the rack each other and finally him.

They speak in unison," You are completely hopeless." they say as if they'd scripted it.

" That's reassuring." Natsu scoffs, " Maybe you should tell me my dreams are unrealistic or that I'm a disappointing lover." Natsu winces as the last part leaves his mouth.

Gajeel begins to stifle laughter as Levy squares up, all 96 pounds of her ready for a fight. " Is there perhaps something you are failing to tell me, Dragneel." She says heat in her tone.

Natsu sighs, " No that just came out wrong." He says, dejectedly.

Levy narrows her eyes, " That better be true…" she pauses and snaps, gajeel still giggling steps up behind her and lifts her by the hips, so that she's glaring down at him, "... or else." she wobbles in Gajeels grips, holding out her arms for balance, " Or else." she says one more time before Gajeel slowly lowers her to the ground.

Natsu blinks as they walk off. " _what just happened"_ he thinks to himself before turning to find Lucy grabbing a costume off the rack, another bag already in her left hand.

" Natsu, I found you the perfect costume." she says cheerily, turning to him.

" You shouldn't be using your left hand." he says protectively, folding his arms.

Lucy looks at him judgingly, " I get the cast of in two days, it's no big deal." she says irritated.

The irritation is quickly replaced by a giddy smile as she holds a costume out to him. " Go try it on" she insists shoving the bag into his hands.

He smiles awkwardly and walks to the curtained off changing rooms. He's less then surprised to find Gray and Juvia making out in the first one, and goes into the second. A few minutes later he steps up in front of Lucy.

The costume consists of a black vest , that exposed his chest, puffy white pants, and sandals, however it also had scale patterned gloves that had claws and plastic and foam spikes running up to his shoulders under the vest, Large tattered looking scaly wings attached to a kind of discreet harness under the vest, and long curled horns attached o to a band around his head. He was holding a case with contacts and false teeth that also came with the costume.

" Raar", Lucy says mockingly, " Oh mighty dragon, take me now" she continues, hugging herself and shaking dramatically.

"Roar" Natsu adds, brandishing his claws unenthusiastically." I look like like an idiot", he says poutily.

" A hot idiot." Lucy says happily. " And that's what really matters." She continues giggling.

" You seriously look great, I'll have to beat the girls off you with a bat at the dance." she says still smiling.

" Do I have to go." Natsu pleads. " I can get a little TV and dvd player, we can watch horror movies all night."

Lucy huffed and Put her hands on her hips. " Natsu Dragneel, you are going to the school dance and that's final." She punctuates her sentence by stomping her foot menacingly.

Natsu chuckles and nods, smiling warmly. " I'm gonna go get changed, then we can head out. I'm not sure where Wendy is could you find her." He says over his shoulder as he turns back to the changing rooms.

Suddenly next to them a giant teddy bear stands up and removes it's head. " I was here the whole time." Wendy says from within, the base of her pigtails just barely peeking out over the suits neck.

Natsu and Lucy Laugh. As Lucy helps guide Wendy away and Natsu heads to the changing area. He smiles thinking to himself that he's glad to have such good friends.

-Lucy-

Lucy sat in a car driven by Gajeel, Levy sits in the passenger seat. They're returning to the school after getting Lucy's cast removed. She rubs her wrist where it was, her skin is paler, and still feels clammy where it had been. She can squeeze very hard with her left hand now. Being unable to use it for so long had caused atrophy in the muscles of her lower arm.

Levy claps loudly, " It's altogether way to quiet in here." she says. " Let's talk about something."

"Well, I hear strange supernatural things happen to the people who attend this school during the annual dance. Something about connections to the spirit world or something." Gajeel says, in a spooky tone.

" Actually I read in a book once, that the academy is actually built on a ley line and that those with connections to a supernatural dimension can access that dimensions version of them to copy their abilities. And several studies have proven the truth of many ancient myths pertaining to the paranormal. Also that halloween falls on the point in time when supernatural beings,and properties can access the physical world most readily." Levy drones.

Gajeel looks at her out of the corner of his eye. " You just made ghost stories boring, shrimp".

Lucy chuckles as Levy harrumphs and sinks in her seat. They eventually arrive back at the school and walk as a group up to Natsu's dorm. Natsu is pacing a hole in the hallway waiting for them. He rushes over as he sees them and lifts Lucy from the ground in a hug.

" Oh i'm so glad you're not seriously injured in some horrific way." He says excitedly, " All 173 situations seem not to have occurred… unless." he sets her down and puts his hands on her shoulders. " You didn't lose your hearing because the saw was too loud right?" he asks genuinely.

Lucy fains confusion, putting a hand to her ear and saying loudly, " What?"

Natsu frowns, and quickly stoops grabbing her by the knees and straightening to hold her hanging over his shoulder. " I must take this defective unit in for recycling." he says in a robotic accent, at least an attempt at one.

Gajeel and Levy laugh as Lucy complains and beats on Natsu's back. " put me down, you big dummy." she cries before going limp and sighing theatrically. " This is not how you're supposed to sweep a girl off her feet." She says whinily.

Natsu grins, " whatever." he says before carrying Lucy into the dorm. He plops her onto the bed, and falls on top of her with a theatrical sigh.

Lucy struggles to flip him off of her but can't quite overcome his weight. " Off, you're heavy." she commands

"Can't I'm sleeping" he says before snoring loudly and fakely.

"I'll pay you in love and affection." she states.

"What kind of affection?" he asks lifting his head from the bed to look at her.

"Whatever you desire." she says running one hand from her chin downward seductively. But only after I take a shower without my cast on."

Natsu bobs his head from side to side considering. " deal." he says lifting himself from the bed. " after that shower you are all mine." he says tapping his fingers together evilly.

Lucy exits the bathroom wrapped in a towel to find Natsu laying on his side on the bed. " Now my beautiful masseuse. Let this begin" he says. Lucy laughs and walks up to the bed. Natsu Sits up with his back to her and scoots up shaking his shoulders.

Chapter7:

Natsu woke, slowly opening his eyes. He was lying on the couch his head resting in Lucy's lap. She was passed out with her head leaning against the wall. He sat up and stretched, a book falling from his chest as he did so. He bent down to pick it up. It wa a romance novel Lucy had been reading the night before. He shook hi head and opened the book to a random page, and reading a few lines. He stopped closing the book gingerly before placing it on the couch and walking away, his face red.

Natsu checked the alarm clock, it was only six in the morning, and a saturday. Or to be precise the saturday, October 31st. He sighs heavily, dreading the night of social interaction Lucy would force him to attend. He walks to the kitchenette and gets a soda from the fridge sitting at the counter to drink it.

After a while Lucy stirs, yawning groggily from the couch. She stands, and walks to the bathroom. She gets out a minute later and walks to the counter. Placing her hands on the surface and looking at Natsu.

"You let my lap get cold." she says grumpily. She glides sideways and puts her arms over his shoulders hanging from his back.

" Lucy." he says softly, " you can't sleep on me." he reaches up and lifts her hand to his lips, kissing her fingers softly.

"But you're warm", she groans sleepily. " and you can hold me up just fine."

Natsu chuckles, unwrapping her arms and turning in his seat and standing, and holding her against his chest. He stoops and lifts her onto his hips with a bounce. Making a cradle with his hands to hold her up. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and lays her head on his shoulder mumbling incoherently. He carries her to the bed and lays her down, pulling the comforter up to her shoulders.

He stands there watching her sleep. She looks so peaceful, so fragile, and just a little adorable. He turns away and strides to the bathroom to take a shower. He revelled in the heat of the water as it flowed over his body. He'd been very stressed for the month and a half he'd been at this school. He's just about to turn the water off when the bathroom door opens a crack.

Lucy's voice floats through the crack, " I need your help with something." she says pathetically but not in any way that worries him.

" I'll be right there", he says turning off the water. He steps from the shower and towels off, running the towel down flesh. He wraps the towel around his waist before opening the bathroom door. As the door opens fully there's a click and a flash. Lucy is standing in front of him phone in hand.

"Thanks for the help." she says bouncing giddily pressing buttons on her phone screen.

Natsu stands stunned, " What was that?" he asks incredulously

" I needed a sexy pic of you for my home screen." She answers matter of factly. " you know to make other girls jealous, and to stare at it when you aren't there."

Natsu shakes his head, " but why did you need a picture of me after getting out of the shower?" He asks this time more specifically.

"Because." she says dramatically shoving the phone in his face, " You're all shiny and I can see your tattoo. Also you're hair looks funny damp." she giggles at his less than enthused expression.

"That picture will start all kinds of rumors", Natsu says poutily.

Lucy cocks an eyebrow, " Why are there so many negative rumors about you, and why do people avoid you like he literal plague?" She asks an edge to her voice.

Natsu sighs, " I can't really tell you that." he says softly rubbing the back of his neck.

" Why can't you tell me?" Lucy demands, her voice rising.

"Because…" Natsu says his eyes full of fear.

"Because of what?" Lucy yells angrily. " What reason could you possibly have to justify not telling me after all this time? I just want to know why everyone hates someone as nice as you are."

" Because, I don't want you to be scared of me!" He yells tears in his eyes. He falls back against the wall sliding to the floor. " I just don't want to scare you away." he says softly, his voice choked off.

Lucy trembles slightly she squats in front of him. Voice quavering she speaks. " What… what are you hiding that you… you think I'd be scared of you?"

"I… hurt people, and I just..." he takes a deep breath, " I don't want you to think i'm a danger to you, everyone else is scared of me, I couldn't bear if you were too." he put his head in his hands and sighed.

Lucy reaches out and puts a hand on his shoulder, " promise me they were bad people", she says softly.

" Yes they were, I never even meant to hurt most of them." he says wiping his eyes.

" We are inseparable, especially by something you had to do in the past." Lucy says conviction in her voice. "I swear to never give up on you, or to lose trust in your heart."

Natsu grabs her hand, " And I swear to protect you, and to always love you." He says these words with a firm yet tender tone.

Both of them stared into eachothers eyes then, and each would have sworn to see something in the others eyes. Lucy saw golden flames in his pupils, a warm safe sight, Natsu saw a dark cloud, pierced indiscriminately with light. Neither spoke of these things and soon forgot completely as they rose together.

" That was a long time coming", Natsu says hugging Lucy close.

"I'm glad you finally told me the truth." Lucy replies closing her eyes and resting her head on his chest. He felt so warm and safe.

" Lucy" Natsu said softly

"Yes Natsu", she replied her face still buried in his chest.

"I need to go get dressed, if you don't mind." he says.

Reluctantly she releases him and he slips back into the bathroom. She briefly considers following but decides not to. She paces for the minute it takes him to return from the bathroom.

" Can we do something until it's time for the party?" Lucy asks attempting a cute and innocent look.

"Like what?" Natsu replies running his hands through his hair.

" Something Levy wouldn't like." Lucy says sidling up closer to Natsu.

" Well, we could make out so long we forget how to breath." Natsu says attempting to steer the conversation.

" Or?" Lucy says pressing herself into Natsu's arm.

" How about we just sit cuddle a little, and maybe bake some cookies." Natsu says sweat beading on his forehead.

"Fine." Lucy huffs. " But I get 75% of all baked goods produced.

Natsu chuckles, and ruffles her hair, " Sure beautiful, whatever you want." he says leading her to the couch.

-Levy-

Levy sat in Gajeel's lap, her hair barely brushing his chin as they watched a movie on Gajeel's small TV. SHe leaned back against his chest and sighed.

"What's up?", Gajeel asks quietly putting a hand on her thigh.

"Nothing, I just don't like how much those two are all over each other." she says huffily.

Gajeel laughs," you are always thinking about those two." he says chuckling, " Let them have each other, they're old enough to do what they want."

"Let's go say hi, hang out there before heading down to the big dance." Levy says sliding off Gajeel and hopping to the door.

Gajeel stands grabs their costumes and and follows her. Stooping out through the door.

Levy leads the way to Natsu's dorm. Waving cheerily to everyone shesaw on the way. Gajeel stalks behind her cast a shadow over the entire hallway.

They step up to Natsu's dorm and Levy Raises her hand to knock. She stops as she hears something from inside.

"Natsu what are you- wahh, ahahahah." Comes Lucy's animated voice from within. A series of thumps follows, and Lucy makes a sound half between squeak and a yell.

Levy throws the door open determined to put a stop to what she believes to be Natsu putting the moves on Lucy. " Oh no, not toda-." she starts but her shout dies off as she sees what's happening.

Lucy stars and Levy in shock her cheeks turning red. She's hanging upside down from Natsu's shoulders, one leg flailing the other locked in Nasu's hands. Natsu turns, to Levy swinging Lucy away. It is evident he was tickling her. And the look on his face is one of mortified shock.

"Natsu, put me down plea- oww." Lucy says as Natsu drops her, his face slackening.

Silence permeates the air as Lucy stands behind Natsu slapping him on the back of the head. He doesn't notice as he stares at Levy and Gajeel.

"Um…". Natsu says dumbly

Silence hangs in the air, only broken when Gajeel bursts out laughing.

" That was priceless," He says guffawing, " You two shoulda seen your faces."

He continues laughing as Levy walks over to the sofa and sits down. " Let's just forget that and hang out." she says matter of factly.

"Forget what?" Lucy and Natsu both say in unison.

They all laugh happily, and set about devouring the cookies Lucy and Natsu had made earlier.

After a while, when they'd all been stuffed with dessert and had talked of this and that for neigh an hour Levy cleared her throat to speak.

" Let's all play a game." she says animatedly

" Oooh, like what?" Lucy reples excited.

" Let's play truth or dare." Levy says definitively.

Lucy claps and the boys groan.

"I'll start." Levy says, " Gajeel truth or dare?" she asks hands on his knee, staring up at him excitedly.

"Truth…" He says uncertainly.

"Have you ever had sex?" Levy says her face getting uncomfortably close to his chin.

" Um… I think once, a few years ago." He says rubbing the back of his neck." Actually the week before I met you.

Levy sits her jaw slack. " What's the matter with that?" Levy asks her.

"We met when we were thirteen." Levy says slowly.

" It's not unheard of." Gajeel splutters. " Plenty of young teen do it, I'm not some oddity." he crosses his arms looking away.

" Well, this is gonna be so fun." Natsu says, " Can't wait to be mortified for the rest of my life."

"Oh please, just answer the question. Truth or dare?" Gajeel says grumpily.

"Truth." Natsu says, raising his finger dramatically.

" Have you slept with Blondie?" Gajeel says abruptly.

" In which sense?" Natsu asks, as Levy glares daggers at him.

" Shared a bed, lain with her, made love, kinda sense." Gajeel says eyebrows raised.

" Then no." Natsu says cheerily. Lucy mutters something next to him and gets a devilish plan.

"Lucy, truth or dare?" Natsu says a grin splitting his face.

" Dare." Lucy says jumping to her feet and shaking her fist.

" Say whatever it is out just muttered out loud for us to hear." Natsu says pretending to inspect his nails.

" Oh, shit." Lucy says. " I said, "'As hard as I've tried to make that happen."', Levy please don't murder me until after the dance." Lucy says retreating behind her hands during the last portion.

When no death threat comes, Lucy lowers her hands and looks at Levy. Gajeel's arm is stretched across her torso like a seatbelt. She seems perfectly calm. Lucy slowly gathers the courage to take her turn.

"Levy, truth or dare?" She asks sheepishly.

"Effing Dare." Levy says irritably.

Lucy is urked by her reaction, so what if she wanted that kind of relationship with Natsu, She was plenty old enough to make her decisions, and Levy held nothing over her. She steels herself and gives her dare. "I dare you to…

-Makarov-

Makarov sat at his desk rifling through papers. Over the last two months he'd been tying down loose ends, covering up events, and disguising the nature of situations. But now he had his work cut out for him. Every year at the school, things went very weird, and he was responsible for containing it. However this year something was different the readings were going off the charts, and he couldn't find the source, he only hoped to contain the damage and prevent total collapse.

A voice floated to him from an indiscernible source, "there will be an incident tonight." said the voice.

Makarov slammed his fist on the desk. And wished for something less cryptic and indefinie. He finished what preparations he could and rose to leave. He'd just have to protect the children as best he could and try to avoid this so called incident. Even if it killed him.

He sat back in his chair and sighed. He was getting too old for this. This year was especially rough, the barrier was weakening, and the school was the focal point. He'd been responsible for overseeing the barrier for 60 years, but he was only the latest in a long lived line of guardians.

The world had been split in twain, and the spiritual, supernatural half had been sealed away, leaving the world in which he now lived. Over the centuries even the trace connections to the supernatural had all but died out. He was one of the last people still in touch with his heritage, that's why he'd been appointed to this post,the weakest point in the barrier where magic leaked through in small quantities. Only the especially attuned could do anything with it, and often only the most subtle of changes occured.

He sighed again watching the clock, half an hour to the dance, when the students would be most susceptible to the influence of the magic. He heaved himself from his chair and strode from the room, turning to head toward the main auditorium where the dance would be held.

At the party the fairytail guild would all stumble upon eachother at different points in time. and the main group would sneak out into the gardens. where a vortex of magic would open up nearly sucking Lucy in. Natsu save her but is sucked in instead and when it closes everyone forgets he existed. Lucy slips back into her intense depression, and once again nearly dies, twice. all while Natsu is floating in a void, changing in pain and completely unawares of his own identity.

He hears a sound and concentrates on it, finding a small horribly atrophied Lucy. He takes the small form into himself and hears her calling from the other side. he follows the call and breaks away from the well of magic. but he emerges looking more like E.N.D.

Lucy who at this point is lying in a bed, devoid of brain signs gets up and walks towards Natsu.

Natsu who is driven only to find Lucy, goes on a rampage, until they meet she doesn't fear him and as Levy screams for Lucy and Gajeel holds her back she kisses Natsu. there is a flash and Natsu regains his true form and the small lucy crawls from his chest into Lucy. a dark shadow flies from her mouth and eyes, leaving her unconscious. Natsu destroys the shade, freeing Lucy from the darkness in her heart. they then live happily ever after.

much of the emotion is lost but I hope it satifys those who wanted to know how the story ended.

I'm gonna try to write a BNHA fanfic next. Please once again forgive me for my cutting the story short.


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